Fiber tray organizer systems and methods

ABSTRACT

A self supporting apparatus ( 10 ) for trays ( 40 ) includes a groove plate ( 20 ), and a plurality of pivotally mounted trays ( 40 ) wherein each tray ( 40 ) is pivotally moveable relative to the groove plate ( 20 ) between a first position ( 46 ) and a second position ( 48 ). The groove plate ( 20 ) includes a plurality of flexible tabs ( 70 ) facing the plurality of trays ( 40 ). An edge ( 50 ) of each tray ( 40 ) includes a rounded surface ( 52 ) and a rib ( 56 ), wherein each one of the ribs ( 56 ) engages one of the flexible tabs ( 70 ) to hold the trays ( 40 ) in one of the first or second positions ( 46, 48 ). The rib ( 56 ) flexes the tab ( 70 ) as each tray ( 40 ) is pivoted between the first and second positions. The tab ( 70 ) and rib ( 56 ) maintain the trays ( 40 ) in the selected positions until the trays ( 40 ) are moved.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure relates to telecommunications organizersincluding trays for fiber optic cables.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Fiber optic cables are often managed with an optical fiber organizerincluding a plurality of pivotally mounted trays mounted on a support.There is a need from time to time to access an individual tray to add afiber, remove a fiber, or make adjustments to the fiber on the tray.There is a need for devices and methods which allow the trays to pivotto access a specific tray. Extra structure separate from the organizerand added to the organizer to hold the trays in selected positions, suchas a wire, is not preferred for holding the trays, as the wire could getmisplaced.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A fiber tray apparatus includes a groove plate and a plurality of trayspivotally mounted to the groove plate in a stacked arrangement. Eachtray is pivotally moveable relative to the groove plate between a firstposition and a second position. The groove plate includes a plurality offlexible tabs which face the plurality of trays. An edge of each trayincludes a rounded surface and a projecting rib. Each one of the ribsengages one of the flexible tabs to hold the trays in one of the firstor second positioned positions. The rib flexes the tab as each tray ispivoted between the first and second positions.

One aspect of the invention includes providing the edge of each traywith two rounded surfaces and a rib on each rounded surface, and whereinthe groove plate includes two flexible tabs for each tray.

In a further aspect, each rounded surface of each edge has a convexlyrounded profile, and the tabs each have a concavely rounded profile forreceiving the convexly rounded profile of the respective edges.

In a still further aspect, each tab positioned adjacent to each trayextends generally parallel to a direction of extension of the edge ofeach tray.

In a preferred embodiment, the trays are positioned on a first side ofthe groove plate, and the tab or tabs are positioned adjacent to eachtray and flex away from the first side toward an opposite side of thegroove plate.

A further aspect of the present invention relates to a method of using afiber tray apparatus including providing a groove plate and a pluralityof pivotally mounted trays wherein the groove plate includes a pluralityof flexible tabs facing the plurality of trays, and an edge of each trayincludes a rounded surface and a rib. Each one of the ribs engages oneof the flexible tabs to hold the trays in one of a first or secondposition. The rib flexes the tab as each tray is pivoted between thefirst and second positions. The rib includes a first edge whichmaintains the tray in one of the pivoted positions, and a second edgefor maintaining the tray in the other pivoted position.

In one aspect of the invention, the groove plate includes a singlepivoting tray.

In a further aspect of the invention, a groove plate is provided for usewith a plurality of pivoting fiber trays wherein the groove plateincludes a plurality of flexible tabs for engagement with a rib on eachpivoting tray.

A further aspect of the invention relates to a fiber tray including anedge with a rounded edge surface and a rib, wherein the rib engages aflexible tab of a groove plate to maintain the tray in a selectedposition.

One preferred orientation of the groove is vertically, wherein the trayshang at an angle downwardly in the first positions, and pivot upwardlyat an angle to the second positions.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a fiber organizer apparatus including agroove plate and a stack of pivoting trays;

FIG. 2 shows the stack of pivoting trays wherein a selected group oftrays is pivoted to a second position to allow access to a selected traywithin the stack;

FIG. 3 is a top view of a tray;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an edge portion of the tray;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the groove plate;

FIG. 6 is a top view of a portion of the groove plate;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view of the groove plate showing one of theflexible tabs;

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 and showing a tray in a firstposition relative to the flexible tab;

FIG. 9 is a view similar to FIG. 8 with the tray pivoted to the oppositesecond position;

FIG. 10 shows three trays mounted to the groove plate wherein the uppertray is in a first pivoted position, the lower tray is in a secondpivoted position, and the middle tray is in an intermediate positionbeing moved between the first and second positions;

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the arrangement shown in FIG. 10 inpartial cross-section;

FIG. 12 is an enlarged view of a portion of FIG. 11.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a fiber trayapparatus or fiber tray organizer or apparatus 10 with pivotally mountedtrays 40 mounted to a support or groove plate 20. Mounting structure 22defines a hinge arrangement between trays 40 and groove plate 20.

Groove plate 20 includes loops 24 on a front 26. A back 28 faces in anopposite direction. On front 26 is a flange 30. Each tray 40 ispivotally mounted to groove plate 20 to individually move and allowselected access for a desired tray 40.

FIG. 2 shows four trays pivoted from a first position 46 to a secondposition 48 to allow access to tray 40 a.

Each tray 40 includes one or more fiber management features 44, such assplice holders, radius limiters, slack storage, or fiber retention tabs.

Each tray 40 includes an edge 50 which includes a convexly roundedsurface 52. As illustrated, each tray includes two portions 50 eachhaving a rounded surface 52. Each tray 40 includes at least one rib 56which projects outwardly from rounded surface 52. In the preferredembodiment, each tray 40 includes two ribs 56.

To allow pivoting movement, each tray 40 includes two posts 58, and aflexible finger 60. Posts 58 are received in loops 24, and finger 60engages flange 30 to retain the trays 40 with groove plate 20.

Groove plate 20 includes a plurality of tabs 70 which flex away fromfront 26 toward back 28 of groove plate 20. In the preferred embodiment,two tabs 70 are provided for each tray. Each tab 70 includes a fixed end74 and a distal free end 72 to permit flexing. Tab 70 includes curvedmiddle surface 76 with a profile that extends longitudinally, a firstedge 78 that extends longitudinally and an opposite edge 88 that extendslongitudinally.

As shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, rib 56 maintains tray 40 in the selectedpivoted position by engagement of tab 56 with first edge 78 or oppositeedge 88. To pivot tray 40 between positions, a user pushes one or moretrays in the opposite direction, and rib 56 pushes tab 70 toward back 28to allow switching of positions. FIG. 10 shows three trays 40 and themiddle tray 40 a is shown with the rib 56 flexing the tab outwardly.FIGS. 11 and 12 further show the flexing of tab 70 to allow movement ofthe trays 40 between positions.

With the above-described and method, a self supporting tray organizer isprovided wherein the trays (40) remain in the desired position to allowaccess to a selected tray 40 disposed in the stack 42. No additionalhardware separate from the organizer is needed to hold the trays 40 inthe desired positions.

PARTS LIST

-   10 Apparatus-   20 Groove plate (support)-   22 Mounting structure-   24 Loops-   26 Front-   28 Back-   30 Flange-   40 Trays-   40 a Selected tray-   42 Stack-   44 Fiber management feature-   46 First position-   48 Second position-   50 Edge of tray-   52 Rounded surface-   56 Rib-   58 Post-   60 Finger-   70 Tab-   72 Distal end-   74 Fixed end-   78 First edge-   80 Concave profile-   88 Opposite edge

1. A fiber tray apparatus (10) comprising: a groove plate (20); aplurality of trays (40), the plurality of trays (40) pivotally mountedto the groove plate (20) in a stacked arrangement (42), each tray (40)pivotally movable relative to the groove plate (20) between a firstposition (46) and a second position (48); characterized in that: thegroove plate (20) includes a plurality of flexible tabs (70) facing theplurality of trays (40); an edge (50) of each tray (40) includes roundedsurface (52) and a rib (56); wherein each one of the ribs (56) engagesone of the flexible tabs (70) to hold the trays (40) in one of the firstor second positions (46, 48); wherein the rib (56) flexes the tab (70)as each tray (40) is pivoted between the first and second positions (46,48).
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the edge (50) of each tray(40) includes two rounded surfaces (52) and two ribs (56), and whereinthe groove plate (20) includes two flexible tabs (70) for each tray(40).
 3. The apparatus of claims 1 and 2, wherein the rounded surfaces(52) of the edges (50) each have a convexly rounded profile (90), andwherein the tabs (70) each have a concavely rounded profile (80) forreceiving the convexly rounded profile (90) of the respective edges(50).
 4. The apparatus of claims 1-3, wherein the tab or tabs (70)positioned adjacent to each tray (40) extend parallel to a direction ofextension of the edge (50) of each respective tray (40).
 5. Theapparatus of claims 1-4, wherein the trays (40) are positioned on afirst side (26) of the groove plate (20), and wherein the tab or tabs(70) positioned adjacent to each tray flex away from the first side (26)toward an opposite side (28) of the groove plate (20).
 6. A method ofusing a fiber tray apparatus (10) comprising: providing a groove plate(20); providing a plurality of trays (40), the plurality of trays (40)each having a cable management feature (44), the plurality of trays (40)pivotally mounted to the groove plate (20) in a stacked arrangement(42), each tray (40) pivotally movable relative to the groove plate (20)between a first position (46) and a second position (48); characterizedin that: providing the groove plate (20) with a plurality of flexibletabs (70) facing the plurality of trays (40); wherein an edge (50) ofeach tray (40) includes a rounded surface (52) and a rib (56), each oneof the ribs (56) engages one of the flexible tabs (70) to hold the trays(40) in one of the first or second positions (46, 48); wherein the rib(56) flexes the tab (70) as each tray (40) is pivoted between the firstand second positions (46, 48); pivoting at least one tray (40), whereinthe rib (56) flexes the tab (70) as the at least one tray (40) ispivoted between the first and second positions (46, 48), wherein the tab(70) holds the at least one tray (70) in the second position (48). 7.The method of claim 6, wherein the rib (56) engages a first edge (78) ofthe tab (70) when the at least one tray (40) is in the second position(48).
 8. The method of claim 6, wherein the rib (56) engages a secondedge (88) of the tab (70) when the at least one tray (40) is in thefirst position (46).
 9. A fiber tray apparatus (10) comprising: a grooveplate (20); a tray (40), pivotally mounted to the groove plate (20)movable relative to the groove plate (20) between a first position (46)and a second position (48); characterized in that: the groove plate (20)includes a flexible tab (70) facing the tray (40); an edge (50) of thetray (40) includes a rounded surface and a rib (56); wherein the rib(56) engages the flexible tab (70) to hold the tray (40) in one of thefirst or second positions (46, 48); wherein the rib (56) flexes the tab(70) as the tray (40) is pivoted between the first and second positions(46, 48).
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the edge (50) of thetray (40) includes two rounded surfaces (52) and two ribs (56), andwherein the groove plate (20) includes two flexible tabs (70).
 11. Theapparatus of claims 9 and 10, wherein the edge or edges (50) each have aconvexly rounded profile (90), and wherein the tab or tabs (70) eachhave a concavely rounded profile (80) for receiving the convexly roundedprofile (90) of the respective edges (50).
 12. The apparatus of claims9-11, wherein the tab or tabs (70) extend parallel to a direction ofextension of the edge (50) of the tray (40).
 13. The apparatus of claims9-12, wherein the tray (40) is positioned on a first side (26) of thegroove plate (20), and wherein the tab or tabs (70) flex away from thefirst side (26) toward an opposite side (28) of the groove plate (20).14. A method of using a fiber tray apparatus (10) comprising: providinga groove plate (20); providing a tray (40) pivotally mounted to thegroove plate (20) between a first position (46) and a second position(48); characterized in that: providing the groove plate (20) with aflexible tab (70) facing the tray (40); wherein an edge (50) of eachtray (40) includes rounded surface (52) and a rib (56), the rib (56)engaged with the flexible tab (70) to hold the tray (40) in one of thefirst or second positions (46, 48); wherein the rib (56) flexes the tab(70) as the tray (40) is pivoted between the first and second positions(46, 48); pivoting the tray (40), wherein the rib (56) flexes the tab(70) as the tray (40) is pivoted between the first and second positions(46, 48), wherein the tab (70) holds the tray (70) in the secondposition (48).
 15. The method of claim 14, wherein the rib (56) engagesa first edge (78) of the tab (70) when the tray (40) is in the secondposition (48).
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein the rib (56) engagesa second edge (88) of the tab (70) when the tray (40) is in the firstposition (46).
 17. A fiber tray apparatus (10) comprising: a grooveplate (20) for pivotally mounting to a plurality of fiber trays (40);characterized in that: the groove plate (20) includes a plurality offlexible tabs (70) facing the plurality of trays (40); an edge (50) ofeach tray (40) includes a rib (56); wherein each one of the ribs (56)engages one of the flexible tabs (70) to hold the trays (40) in one ofthe first or second positions (46, 48); wherein the rib (56) flexes thetab (70) relative to a remainder of the groove plate (20) as each tray(40) is pivoted between the first and second positions (46, 48).
 18. Theapparatus of claim 17, wherein the groove plate (20) includes twoflexible tabs (70) for each tray (40).
 19. The apparatus of claims 17and 18, wherein the tabs (70) each have a concavely rounded profile (80)for receiving a convexly rounded profile (90) of the trays (40).
 20. Theapparatus of claims 17-19, wherein the tab or tabs (70) positionedadjacent to each tray (40) extend parallel to a direction of extensionof the edge (50) of each respective tray.
 21. The apparatus of claims17-20, wherein the trays (40) are positioned on a first side (26) of thegroove plate (20), and wherein the tab or tabs (70) positioned adjacentto each tray flex away from the first side (26) toward an opposite side(28) of the groove plate (20).
 22. A fiber tray apparatus (10)comprising: a tray (40), the tray (40) having a cable management feature(44), the of tray (40) pivotally mountable to a groove plate (20) thetray (40) pivotally movable relative to the groove plate (20) between afirst position (46) and a second position (48); characterized in that:an edge (50) of the tray (40) includes rounded surface (52) and a rib(56); wherein the rib (56) engages a flexible tab (70) of the grooveplate (20) to hold the tray (40) in one of the first or second positions(46, 48); wherein the rib (56) flexes the tab (70) as each tray (40) ispivoted between the first and second positions (46, 48).
 23. Theapparatus of claim 22, wherein the edge (50) of each tray includes tworounded surfaces 52 and two ribs (56), and wherein the groove plate (20)includes two flexible tabs (70) for each tray (40).
 24. The apparatus ofclaims 22 and 23, wherein the edges (50) each have a convexly roundedprofile (90), and wherein the tabs (70) each have a concavely roundedprofile (80) for receiving the convexly rounded profile (90) of therespective edges (50).